Posted
by
CmdrTacoon Monday August 30, 2004 @02:37PM
from the speculate-wildly-please dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Apple is currently seeking an engineer for its iPod hardware division. However, they are not looking for just any engineer. They are seeking an engineer with WiFi and Video integration experience. 'The iPod group is looking for a Hardware Engineer. Experience in the following areas is important: system integration, digital logic, SDRAM, Flash, ASIC's, processor selection, ATAPI, various communication protocols (ie: GSM, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, Firewire, and USB), display types and video and analog integration.'"

I remember seeing plenty of ads in the DC metro area back in the mid-90s, in which corporations were seeking Java programmers with 5-8 years experience. I'm not kidding.

Obviously Apple knows their job announcements are scrutinized, and it wouldn't surprise me if they were casting a broader net than they need to be, as insurance against future needs that may or may not materialize.

I usually don't reply to ACs, but the Objective-C bashing is just ignorant. Objective-C is not used much outside of the Mac OS X development community, but that does not make it a bad language. I've programmed fairly extensively in it, and I can say that it is a truly incredible language that makes tasks really simple. It is a true object oriented language (everything inherits from NSObject) yet you still get to keep pointers, which gives you a lot of power as well. It has the power of C++ and the ease of use of Java or C#.

I have yet to meet anyone with significant experience in Objective-C who can say they dislike the language.

Sign into Apple's job site and go to job requisition ID 2142016 . You should find this:

The iPod group is looking for a Hardware Engineer. This person will be an individual contributor on a top notch team with responsibilities for the design, implementation, and integration of digital and analog electronics. The applicant should be familiar with computer system architecture and digital design. Duties include schematic capture, prototype bring-up and debugging, hardware bug tracking, functional verification, signal characterization, and manufacturing support.

The ideal candidate is someone from a consumer electronics background dealing with high volume, low power, high quality products.

Required Experience:

BS/MS EE or equivalent required.

Must have great EE fundamentals.

5+ years overall experience needed, 3+ years in a lead role preferred.

Note that there is nothing in there about video or wireless; the parenthetical expression in the article text was added by the reporter and the video integration comment is completely out of left field. This is either extremely wishful thinking on the part of Overclockers Club or an outright fabrication.